


Trouble

by Starla (Starla_Larla)



Category: Crystal Grumps AU - Fandom, Game Grumps, crystal grumps - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Gen, SO, and also some betrayal/manipulation?, anyway, i wrote too much for this lol, it's over 3k words, there's not really major violence or death but there's angst, this also has septic-eye sam in it, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 09:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7839976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starla_Larla/pseuds/Starla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being part of the Diamond Authority isn't always as great as it's made out to be.</p><p> </p><p>Warnings: angst, betrayal/manipulation</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trouble

They created a fourth diamond for stability.

 

“He's just too naïve.”

 

After all, who on Homeworld ever heard of a table being held up with three legs?

 

“He  _ cares _ about the lower-class gems. It's not good.”

 

But they soon learned that the fourth Diamond was defective.

 

“Why can't we have a benevolent Fourth? What's so wrong with him, really?”

 

Not in a visible way, like your average defective gem. No, this was more serious.

 

“We can't have a member of the Authority showing weakness. Soon the lower class might start getting... _ ideas _ . And we can't have that.”

 

They didn't figure it out until the Fourth started to learn about his role and show a trait that was not desirable in the members of the Authority.

 

“What are we going to do, then? We’re not exactly the easiest of gems to create. We can't afford to just make another Diamond and you know it.”

 

He showed empathy. Sympathy. He wanted to help others less fortunate than himself. He didn't want to see pain in his subjects. He wanted peace, not glory.

 

“I know.”

 

The other three Diamonds could not allow such a defect in their Authority. It would taint their reputation; the table that was Homeworld would collapse with its weak fourth leg if it wasn't mended soon.

 

“So what are you thinking, then?”

 

Yellow Diamond regarded Orange and Blue Diamond for a moment.

 

“I'm thinking we simply remove the source of the problem. Tell me”—he raised an eyebrow at Blue Diamond—“what's his Pearl’s name again?”

 

***

 

Sam was escorted into Yellow Diamond’s throne room by two Quartz guards, one on either side of him. He thought it was excessive; after all, he was just a Pearl.

 

Just a Pearl.

 

About ten feet into the throne room, the guards stopped, turned around, and walked outside, closing the large doors behind them and leaving Sam alone.

 

The room was huge, of course, and everything was tinted varying shades of yellow. Banners with Yellow Diamond’s insignia—just a simple yellow diamond—were hung on the walls. A large, golden throne was at the opposite end of the room, with two flags behind it...and Yellow Diamond himself sitting in it.

 

Sam, though he was quite a ways away from him and wasn't even directly under his reign, immediately fell into the customary kneel all lower-class gems were expected to know and perform flawlessly in the presence of their superiors (usually either Zircons, who were almost always second-in-command to Diamonds and almost as strong, or Diamonds themselves). He placed a fist to his chest and lowered his head swiftly, giving a shaky vocal greeting: “M-My Diamond!”

 

“You may rise and approach me,” Yellow Diamond said.

 

Sam did as he was told, trying to stop his shaking. He had never seen Yellow Diamond in person, nor Blue Diamond, for that matter. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but whatever it was, it certainly didn't match up to reality.

 

Yellow Diamond was  _ gigantic _ . Fifty feet tall (twice the height of the other Diamonds, as he was the oldest member of the Authority and the most respected/feared of them all), with a voice that echoed loudly around the curved walls of his throne room. There were no Pearls present, which was unusual. Had Jack— _ Green Diamond _ , Sam reminded himself, wanting to be as formal as possible and wondering if Yellow Diamond could hear his thoughts—ever even mentioned Yellow Diamond  _ having  _ a Pearl in the first place?

 

Sam didn't recall.

 

Once he reached the base of Yellow Diamond’s throne, he fell into the kneel once again, still shaking.

 

“Stand,” Yellow Diamond commanded sharply. Sam rushed to his feet, trying his best not to stumble.

 

“Do you know why I've called you here?” Yellow Diamond asked.

 

“N-no, My Diamond.” Sam tried steadying his voice as best he could.

 

Yellow Diamond seemed to relax in his seat a little, leaning to one side and resting his chin in his hand. “You can relax, Sam. I'm not upset with you.”

 

Sam froze for a second, almost alarmed that Yellow Diamond knew his name.

 

“Or...stand really stiffly, I guess. Whatever works.”

 

Sam didn't change his posture.

 

“Anyway.” Yellow Diamond’s voice sounded a bit less...intense...than before. “I’m not upset with you, as I said. You haven't done anything wrong. As a matter of fact, I've called you here to bring your attention to something  _ Green Diamond _ has done.”

 

Sam dared to make slight eye contact with Yellow Diamond, and once he realized it was okay, allowed himself to look confused.

 

“My Diamond, if...you don't mind me asking...”

 

“Not at all.”

 

“...What...w-what are you talking about?”

 

Yellow Diamond gave a complex smile. Sam caught hints of pity—it was not a happy smile—and...was that smugness?...no, it was just pity.

 

“You mean to tell me that Green Diamond; excuse me,  _ Jack _ , as you're on a first-name basis with him or something…he hasn't told you?”

 

“T-told me what?”

 

“Oh, you poor, gullible Pearl.”

 

Sam stared at him.

 

“He hates you.”

 

***

 

“Sam? Saaaa-aaaam, where are you?”

 

Jack gave an exasperated sigh, looking over at Barry. “Have you seen Sam?”

 

Barry shrugged. “No? I don't usually keep track of your Pearls, Jack.”

 

“But I only have  _ one  _ Pearl and I don't know where he  _ is! _ ”

 

“Well, did you have him run any errands for you while you were visiting Earth, or anything…?” Barry suggested.

 

“No, if I have errands to run we usually go together. I just wasn't allowed to bring him to Earth with me, because he might’ve ‘run off’ or something.” Jack sighed again. “He's not just a Pearl, he's my best friend. I'd have him be my Commander if it wasn't just limited to Zircons, and he knows that. He wouldn't abandon me, Barry.”

 

Jack looked at his feet. “I'm worried about him,” he said quietly.

 

Barry knew full well where Sam was, and hated himself for having gone along with Felix’s plan. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell Jack where to go, and was debating with himself (he’d only be postponing the inevitable if he pointed Jack in the wrong direction) when Felix decided for him.

 

Jack was clearly startled when Yellow Diamond—Felix—walked into the Diamonds’ shared meeting area. Usually Felix only talked to Barry and Jon—Orange and Blue Diamond, respectively—and let his disdain for Jack be known. But he had on an odd expression that Jack couldn't place when he walked in, and said, “Are you looking for your Pearl?”

 

Jack noticed Barry look a lot more uncomfortable, but only replied, “Yeah…?”

 

“I wanted to have a quick chat with him. Sorry for making you worry like that. He's just in my throne room.”

 

Felix must have noticed Jack’s mildly terrified expression, because he laughed a bit. “He's not shattered or anything. Relax, Jack.”

 

Jack darted out of the meeting area, not noticing Barry and Felix exchange glances as he left.

 

“I can't believe you would do this,” Barry said.

 

“I can't believe you care,” Felix replied.

 

***

 

There were no guards stationed outside of Felix’s throne room. It should have been a red flag, but Jack hardly noticed as he pushed open the doors and shapeshifted into his shorter form. “Sam? You in here?”

 

The room was dark, except for a soft yellow glow from behind Felix’s throne and a noise that almost sounded like crying. If Jack had organs, his heart would have sped up. “...Sam?”

 

No reply.

 

He cautiously made his way over to Felix’s throne, taking his time. He almost wanted to shapeshift back into his normal height, but decided against it, thinking it might startle Sam.

 

He hesitated when he reached the throne. The noise definitely sounded like crying, except...not. It was distorted in some way, like someone...or something...had heard a recording of someone else crying and was trying to repeat the sound without any tears. The light, Jack recognized as one of Felix’s projections. He could project things himself, but he wasn't very good at it. Felix, though...he could keep his projections running without even being there.

 

He heard another sound, too. It sounded like his voice, and the voices of the other three Diamonds, just really quiet. Like somebody had turned the volume of a TV down almost all the way.

 

Jack took a deep breath, wanting to figure out what was going on, and stepped behind the throne.

 

Felix’s throne room extended a good twenty or thirty feet behind his actual throne, and in this empty space was a projection that showed Jack, Jon, and Barry all gathered together and laughing. Jack assumed that Felix wasn't present because he’d been recording. If he thought a bit, he could recall where this recording had come from; a couple hundred years ago, maybe, on perhaps the only day where all four Diamonds had sat together just to talk and not to discuss plans.

 

He wondered fleetingly why this recording was here. He knew that just about all of a gem’s memories—the important parts, the parts that impacted their life the most, at least—were recorded in their gem and could be played back via projection if desired. But it just didn't make sense. No Diamond except Jack was in the room, and Felix probably wouldn't have just left this projection up for anyone to see.

 

He didn't think about it much, or pay attention to the audio, because then he realized that the odd crying had stopped and he’d seen no sign of Sam.

 

“Sam?” he called, cupping his hands over his mouth. His voice echoed through the room, and he tried again, getting no response except his own voice.

 

Then he saw it.

 

Jack jumped back, eyes wide. “What the fuck??”

 

It was a corrupted gem, just... _ sitting _ there, in Yellow Diamond’s throne room. It was in front of the projection, and it was like nothing he’d ever seen before: a vaguely luminescent, bright green  _ eyeball _ with a lighter green tail...no, optic nerve?...at the back of it. And it was  _ staring straight at him _ .

 

He didn't think about why it was here, he just rushed forward and poofed it, not knowing what else to do. He caught the gem in his hand before it hit the ground, preparing to bubble it and bring it to someone’s attention and…

 

Oh.

 

Oh, no.

 

A feeling he rarely experienced made his legs give out from under him, made his arms start to shake. He stared down at the smooth, mostly-round gem in his hands, feeling something knot itself in his throat. His eyes stung with tears and the knot in his throat only worsened. He’d never cried before. He hadn't known it was possible for Diamonds to cry.

 

He was holding Sam’s gem.

 

A wave of new emotions crashed over him. He’d only really ever experienced mild fear, or mild sadness, or strong happiness, never anything like this. This was something he could only describe as terrible. He felt like something was missing from him, being taken away. Like there was a hole in his chest. Like his gem was being torn out.

 

He didn't realize he was screaming until the knot in his throat gave way to a tearing sensation and the sound of his own voice reached his ears after echoing around the room. His screams gave out, replaced with coughing and warm tears running down his cheeks. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to calm his breathing and only coughing more if he tried.

 

He didn't realize he’d dropped Sam’s gem until he noticed a bright light and opened his eyes, taking ragged breaths and squinting at the light. Sam was reforming. For a few seconds, he saw Sam’s normal form, and his...grief?...was replaced with hope...but then the light intensified, forcing Jack to look away.

 

When he looked back, he only saw the corruption, with Sam’s gem in the center of the pupil.

 

He didn't know what to do, what he  _ could  _ do. He couldn't bring himself to hurt Sam, not even a corrupted version of him. And Sam, if that thing even  _ was  _ Sam anymore, didn't seem to want to hurt Jack, anyway. So Jack just observed, wiping away his tears and trying to ignore the (loosened) knot that had returned in his throat.

 

The eyeball...Sam...wasn't even looking at Jack. It—he, Jack had to remember it was Sam—was staring at the projection that was still playing on a loop. The crying sound, which Jack had recently become fairly acquainted with, started again.

 

Jack turned his attention to the projection.

 

“I'm telling you, he's just fucking useless,” said Projection-Jack. “I don't know why I don't get him transferred or something. He's the worst Pearl I've ever had in my entire life.”

 

“You're only 2400 years old, Jack,” said Projection-Jon. He seemed slightly drunk, as did Projection-Jack. “What d’ _ you _ know about good Pearls?”

 

“Enough to know that Sam isn't one of them,” Projection-Jack scoffed.

 

The projection repeated. It was only a few seconds long at the most, but it was enough to have hurt Sam so badly that he got corrupted.

 

Jack had had no idea that Sam had cared that much.

 

But he  _ did _ know that it was a false projection.

 

“That's enough of that for today,” he said quietly, voice a bit scratchy from his crying. He stood and waved a hand through the projection; it recognized him as a Diamond and shut itself off.

 

He was left in a dark room with only the light from his own gem and Sam, who was still glowing faintly.

 

Jack kept his back turned to Sam for a while, trying to calm himself enough so that he wouldn't just start crying as soon as he looked behind him. His efforts were in vain, though, because as soon as he turned around he felt the knot tighten and the tears sting his eyes.

 

“It's not real,” he said, and he barely even recognized the sound of his own voice. “S-Sam, it's not...real. I’d never say that about y-you, I...I swear…”

 

Could Sam even understand him anymore? It was worth a try. In the back of his mind, Jack knew it wouldn't work, but...maybe he could try to un-corrupt him. Maybe he could fix this somehow.

 

“Here. I have...t-the real one. Please, just...just l-look, okay?”

 

He focused, trying to find the memory and then projecting it from his gem. Sam watched, and even though he was...corrupted...Jack could see, could  _ sense _ , that he was hurt. That he felt betrayed.

 

Jack couldn't blame him.

 

“See?” he said, gesturing weakly to the new projection. “T-this is what I really...what I really s-said.”

 

Projection-Jack couldn't be seen in this projection, because it was recorded from his point of view, but he sounded happy. Proud, even. “He's the best Pearl I've ever had in my entire life,” he said. “He's...he's just awesome.”

 

“You're 2400 years old. What d’ _ you  _ know about good Pearls?”

 

“Enough to know that he's the best one  _ ever _ ,” Projection-Jack said. “He's my best friend in all of Homeworld. I wouldn't transfer him if it meant I got control over the entire Earth sector.”

 

Jack thought he noticed Projection-Felix mutter “pathetic” under his breath, but he couldn't be certain. He shut off the projection, not bothering to wipe at the tears trickling down his face this time.

 

“I would never say…” Jack took a shaky breath. “If you're still in there, Sam, I just...I want you to know t-that I would never...h-hurt you.” He shut his eyes again, trying and failing to stop yet another batch of tears from staining his face. “Not even...like this.”

 

He put his face in his hands, shoulders shaking as he cried. “You didn't deserve t-this,” he whispered. “Y-you did...n-nothing wrong…”

 

He felt a gentle nudge at his elbow, and he sniffled, looking down. Sam-the-Eye was looking up at him; almost, it seemed, in forgiveness.

 

Jack gave him a small hug, still sniffling, and allowed himself a tiny laugh. “You  _ are  _ still in there,” he said. His laughter was replaced with more quiet crying, to which Sam responded with another gentle nudge.

 

“I don't think I can help you,” Jack said, and the words sent another pain through his chest. “I...I don't know what I can do…”

 

Sam just nudged him a third time, and suddenly Jack got an idea.

 

“...Sam…” Jack started. “How would you like to visit Earth?”

 

***

 

Jack was the same gem he was before.

 

Inside, he knew he still could never bring himself to be as ruthless as any of the other Diamonds. He didn't have it in him to shatter a gem that had only made a simple mistake, or be as unfeeling as the others seemed to be.

 

He knew he still wasn't as powerful as the other three Diamonds, nor was he as respected by their subjects.  _ Feared _ , he told himself.  _ His _ subjects weren't afraid of him, because he had never known they needed to be.

 

But now...that had changed.

 

He knew Felix was behind Sam’s corruption, saw it in his smug face when he passed by Jack in the Diamonds’ meeting area, heard it in his voice. “Did you find your Pearl, Jack?”

 

Some new white-hot emotion burned through him, made him want to punch Yellow Diamond in the face, made him want to scream and cry, but it wasn't sadness. No, this emotion put a pit in his stomach and a fire in his metaphorical heart.

 

He didn't punch Yellow Diamond. He would continue not punching Yellow Diamond for thousands of years to come. He would never, ever stoop to his level, the level that made it okay to punish innocent gems and to rule with fear and tyranny.

 

He took a breath, let his hands (which had been clenched into fists) rest at his sides, and felt the rage and the sadness and everything else he’d felt in the past two hours simmer down into a dull ache that rested in his gem.

 

“Yes,” he said, putting on his best formal voice. “Thank you for the help, Felix.”

 

The grin that Felix gave him made him want to punch him again, but he forced himself to calm down. To focus. “My pleasure, Jack,” Felix replied.

 

Jack saw the other Diamonds, Barry and Jon, look away from him. Were they...ashamed?

 

_ They knew _ , Jack realized.  _ They knew all along _ .

 

“Excuse me for...a minute,” Jack said. He felt dizzy. “I need to...t-to…”

 

He didn't finish the thought as he stumbled out into the hallway, rushing to his own throne room as quickly as he could and shutting the doors behind him. He didn't want the other Diamonds, especially Felix, to see him cry.

 

He wiped at his face, and almost called for Sam, but then he remembered that Sam wasn't there—would be on his way to Earth in a while, if Jack could turn in a few favors—and he started to cry all over again.

 

And he made a decision.

 

Jack could never be like the other Diamonds. Could never be as ruthlessly intelligent as Felix, or as determined and strong as Jon, or as gentle yet tough as Barry.

 

He could never be like them, but he could damn well put on a show for them.

 

And put on a show he did.

 

***

 

Two months after Sam was corrupted and sent to Earth (Barry had felt bad about going along with Felix’s plan and said he would take Sam with him on his next trip to Earth), a rumor began to spread that Orange Diamond had been shattered.

 

Jack, of course, glared sideways at Felix throughout the Diamonds’ entire discussion of the subject, but he soon realized that Felix was just as shocked as any of them. For once, this hadn't been a part of some scheme.

 

This was an act of rebellion, and Jack, who had felt almost nothing but that dull ache of buried sadness for an entire two months, felt his first glimmer of hope.

 

_ Rebellion _ . The word was new, exciting. It spread throughout Homeworld, and Felix...Felix was  _ scared _ .

 

“You two are the only gems I can trust,” he said to Jack and Jon. “Remember—we are the Diamond Authority. We do not tolerate rebels.”

 

“Of course not,” the other two Diamonds said.

 

“Jack, I'm putting you in charge of the Earth sector. Do not disappoint me,” Felix said.

 

Jack nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

 

Felix had absolutely no idea that Jack had never and would never shatter a disobedient gem in his lifetime. He had no idea that Jack was secretly sending the gems that he said he’d shattered to Earth instead.

 

Earth was a safe haven for gems that were unhappy with the Authority. Who were unhappy with only being what they were formed for.

 

And Jack, the most unhappy with the Authority of all, was now the ruler of it.


End file.
